Yulexi Morales

27.004.572

Education Modern Languages

Reading and Writing II

Why India's caste system is a mistake

It is common all over the world for societies to regroup in social structures, but there are
more complex structures than others, based on religion, culture, physical trait and even
intellectual knowledge. The case of India, on which I will focus, has deep roots in the Hindu
religion, as it still retains a hereditary system of social stratification such as castes, which is
a cruel system that forges inequality for lower castes and social control, and undoubtedly an
error that should be eradicated.

This caste system generates a strong point of discrimination and has unleashed a wave of
protests for a long time about the abuses and contempt suffered by the so-called
"untouchables". The population then plunged into a social conflict that continues to limit the
human rights of millions of people. This is an obstacle to overcome for the Indian executive,
despite all the measures and guarantees they have offered to improve the situation.

As I mentioned earlier, the mythical origin of castes is deeply linked to Hinduism (one of
India's three major religions), which teaches that human beings were created from different
parts of the body of a god called Brahmá. Depending on the part of Brahmá's body from
which humans were created, they are classified into four basic castes, which define their
social status, who they can marry, and the type of work they can do.

The Sanskrit or divine language of Hinduism calls the castes "varna". The meaning of varna
is color, we might believe that it is an ethnic differentiation, however, it is a matter of
representation of colors.
Thus, first there are the “Brahmins” who are associated with the color white, according to
Hinduism, came out of the mouth and skull of Brahma and are composed of priests, doctors,
teachers and intellectuals, located at the top of the pyramid.

In second place are the “Kshatriyas”, associated with the color red, they came out of the arms
of Brahma and is formed by governors and warriors. The third caste are the “Vaishyas” is
linked to the yellow color they came out of the thighs of Brahma, this group is formed by
landowners and merchants.

As for the last caste, they are the “Shudras”, represented by the color black, according to
Hinduism they came out of the feet of Brahma to work for the previous caste, thus, it is
formed by workers, servants and peasants.

But, there is also another group that are those who do not belong to any caste, are called
“Dalits” or oppressed, also called "untouchables", they are the lowest part of Hindu society,
they are assigned marginal jobs, such as collecting excrement or cleaning toilets, and the
luckiest work the hardest lands (without any right to own them), cremate the dead, wash the
clothes of other castes or collect garbage in exchange for some coins.

It could be said that the caste system in India is equal to the social classes that exist in all
countries. Well, the idea is similar, although it's not exactly the same. If you're born into a
caste, you die in it, too. No matter what you do in life, neither you nor anyone else can change
your caste. And since no one chooses where, how or from whom they are born, the caste to
which you belong "touches you" at the instant you are conceived. But on the other hand,
social classes allow ascending or descending within it, while castes are immovable. However,
according to the laws of Manu (an important Sanskrit text of ancient Indian society), which
contain the social, moral, educational and religious rules that society must follow. They
dictate that the caste order is sacred and that no one can aspire to move to another caste in
the course of his or her life. That is, he must have the trade of his father and marry someone
of his caste. It is only through the succession of reincarnations that one can advance (or
regress) in this status.

I think that one thing is the middle class, high class and low class and another is to be born
into a family of "untouchables" where you can not even dream of having a good home just
for the fact of being born as an untouchable and therefore you are considered almost or worse
than an animal.

The problem of inequality that is rooted in this caste system is the association of family
surnames with castes, inheriting from parents to children the position that this maintains in
society. From the beginning, people misinterpreted the objective of castes, since the real
purpose is to determine and know what kind of person is good in a trade or job to improve,
such as lawyer, teacher, and carpenter, among others. It is also a question of not giving power
to just one person, since tyrannical rulers would be created. That is why people are divided
according to the skills and aptitudes they have.

This is how the caste system should work, but unfortunately in India it was misinterpreted,
and because of this people become something they should not be. In ancient times, it was
perhaps more simple than when a person, for example, developed a trade as a carpenter, it
was more convenient to teach his son the same. But today this no longer works, for we are
now in a society where we all have the ability and security to do what we want to be.

From my point of view, this caste system is very closed, it only creates inequality between
the members of the different castes and it does not grant the same possibilities for all people
to be able to choose in what they want to develop. For example, a person who is one of the
"Vaishyas", who tills the land and has his children and one of them is no good for that, but if
he likes to study and wants to be a teacher or doctor, if the subject of castes were dealt with
correctly, he would have the opportunity to belong to a different caste, since the subject was
only of ability and to better organize people, to give power to those who are really good at
those characteristics.

Mahatma Gandhi, was one of those who fought to bring to light the bad situation suffered by
the lowest castes, to guarantee rights and freedoms for all kinds of castes. It was then that the
Indian government in 1950 banned discrimination against Dalits. However, this has not been
completely eliminated due to class loyalty. Caste differentiation continues, especially in rural
areas. Dalits are still regarded as impure and continue to be publicly embarrassed, subject to
higher castes.
A study entitled "No escape: caste discrimination in the UK" found that Indian communities
in the UK maintain the discriminatory practices that exist in India. According to this study,
approximately 50,000 people are discriminated against within their own communities as
descendants of the Dalit (untouchable) caste. The report denounces that couples who marry
outside the caste system suffer violence, intimidation and exclusion.

It is not enough for them to be discriminated against in India, but also in other countries they
have to be degraded, and humiliated by those who still believe in this system. According to
research, Dalits are so despised that, for example, a person belonging to a higher caste such
as Brahmins cannot accept food touched or cooked by a lower caste person such as Dalits, as
it is considered impure and contaminating. What I think is really contaminating is to treat a
person that way and despise him, and those who still practice that are far from being pure
people.

On the other hand, there is also the problem that a woman in India has to marry someone of
the same caste, previously agreed and organized to guarantee offspring within the same caste.
Although there have been several inter-caste marriages at present, this rule is still widely
practiced. But, how is it possible that in the 21st century societies allow such nonsense,
women and men should have the freedom to choose who they want as their partner, they
should have the freedom to fall in love with anyone no matter which caste they belong to and
to marry when they want, and even be respected if they do not want to marry.

However, the government in its eagerness to control the situation, due to protests over caste
discrimination, decided to implement various state policies to face up to barriers and improve
social mobility. These policies include positive discrimination, which could be described as
a social policy, which favors and improves the lives of minority groups that have been
discriminated against, with the idea of generating equality in resources and opportunities, for
example, quotas in government, employment and education for members of lower castes.

But due to these measures taken by the government, many from higher castes began protests
against affirmative action, as so-called "untouchables" now take over the positions of
officials, government positions, and companies.
So, what do I mean by this? The discontent shown by both sides of the coin. A more affluent
social group that sees it as an injustice to grant work and education to the most disadvantaged,
which seems to me to be completely selfish. It is unthinkable to find a real solution to this
problem. This possible solution of the government to mend the situation only brings conflicts
between the castes, besides that the government only does it as a strategy to win more votes.

The solution should be that everyone has an equal chance to prepare for what they want to
be, no matter what castes. When someone wants to opt for a job, let the one who is more
prepared and has more skill get the job, because it is also not fair that belonging to a lower
caste will grant him more privileges, if there are also people of higher castes who are more
able and can achieve better results.

However, as in any debate, there are those who support this caste system, according to what
I read on the website "buscando.waslala" an article called "El sistema de castas en la India",
says that from the point of view of some people the caste system is not bad, it is what makes
India what it is. They argue that it keeps it cohesive and that it preserves its traditions and
culture, this with respect to the fact that people cannot leave their caste and that they cannot
relate to those of lower castes.

There are those who prefer to see it as a system that has united the different parts of society.
A system that unites people instead of dividing them, and that has had value for thousands of
years. They consider that society was conceived as one big family and that every group, that
is, caste, works to make it work. For example, in a family, one brother may be a spiritual
master, another an executive, a third trader, and the fourth farmer. Everyone helps the family
in their own way at the right time. Their combined knowledge and cooperation among them
is what creates a real unity in their family life and society. This was the origin of the caste
system, each group had responsibilities and duties. Each group worked for the common good.
The important thing is how this system was used. In its ideal form, the caste system has much
truth and value, but the erroneous attitudes that have penetrated it by human ignorance require
that the present system be supplanted by something more suited to a modern and advanced
society.

Although this could be true, it is also true that as in all societies of the world, people have
different abilities, some work better in the field, but others have more ability to teach, others
instead studied sciences such as medicine and heal people, even people who serve others
such as, those who clean or collect garbage are contributing to society, and without them
would not be a united. But this happens in all the societies of the countries without being
called caste, and without being denigrated or excluded as in India.

Also, the ex-Minister of India, Shashi Tharoor, explains in an article published in "The
Huffington Post", why, in his opinion, the caste system will not disappear in his country. He
expresses that India is a land of multiple identities and one of the fundamental identities is
inevitably castes.

Undoubtedly this is a great truth, because as this system has been for thousands of years,
people have adapted it as part of their identity that even if they are discriminated against they
don't care and it is that everyone is proud of their caste, no one wants to give it up, because
caste gives them the hallmarks of identity.

Nevertheless, and in spite of all the above, it is evident that the caste system in India generates
conflicts, inequality and governs the interaction between members of a society. It is an absurd
system of social control which is far removed from brotherhood and which stops this society
which has not revealed against this form of oppression. From my point of view, I prefer to
live in a society with social classes, than in one where this cruel caste system is managed.

In conclusion, what needs to be understood from this is that caste segmentation may have
worked in its time but is not going to work forever. We are in a very changing time, where
forms of rebellion are very common and anyone has the ability and security to determine
what to do with their life without having to belong to a caste.
 References

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